The present invention relates to a slide-on system for automatically loading panels of wood, plastic or similar material, and which is especially suitable for applications involving thin, undulated panels.
Known slide-on panel loading systems feature a transfer bar with push members by which a pack of panels is pushed off the top of a stack into the work station. Particularly when loading thin, undulated panels, one or more panels underneath the pack being loaded invariably inch forward in the direction of the work station, due to friction between the underside of the bottom panel in the moving pack and the top surface of the panel underneath, which friction is further accentuated by the weight of the moving pack and the undulated design of the panels. Slippage of the underlying panels not forming part of the pack for loading creates serious problems by virtue of the offset position assumed by the underlying panels in relation to the moving pack. This invariably results in handling and aligning problems when loading the next pack, and very often in high-cost machine stoppages for restoring acceptable loading conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,642 describes a sheet feeding apparatus for feeding stiff curved sheets one at a time from a vertical stack of such sheets to a sheet processing machine. This apparatus has a gate to permit passage of one sheet at a time and cannot be used in cutting a pack of panels. In fact, it is intended for use in machines which can cut one sheet at a time. U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,940 describes an apparatus for separating one or more essentially thin and planar products from a stack of such products. In this apparatus, the thickness of a gate through which the products pass is predetermined. The apparatus includes a sensor which singles out the level of the products and which controls the level of the gate which has always the same thickness. The apparatus cannot be used to feed panels of wood because it presents bodies which press on the pack during the movement, making possible scratches on the surface of the panels. Furthermore, this apparatus is not predisposed to move packs of thickness greater than the thickness of the gate. Lastly, in this apparatus, the gate could interfere with the passage of packs formed by undulated panels which could get in touch with the edges of such gate.